Attack The Elbow

In order to understand kata and apply the principles contained therein, one ought to be able to identify what exactly is being depicted in the kata. Simple, provided you accept that everything in kata is about fighting an opponent within arm's length, and in this instance that an adversary's straight arm is an invitation to break it. The cup and saucer pose found throughout kata is a popular and recurring "image" of this principle.

Traditionally, the cup and saucer pose is referred to as a chambering, ostensibly for a backfist and sidekick.  Domingo, my partner in the video below, assures me that if I were to break his nose with a backfist, it might end the fight.  Domingo is too kind.  I spar knockdown karate with Domingo regularly. He's got more muscle and bone mass, and heaps more motivation. A backfist, I'm afraid, would only stoke the hellfire sure to follow such a foolish move.

In the video, I demonstrate an elbow attack from a clinch, such as I might find myself in if Domingo lands a glancing blow and I grab and hold, and a situation where Domingo is raining down punches and I cover-up. Of course, a lapel grab might also be a situation where an elbow attack might be warranted. The art is not memorizing an application for every scenario, but being able to apply the principle to any scenario. 

Note too that a full understanding of the straight arm attack principle is recognizing that anything can act as the fulcrum over which the elbow is destroyed. Future installments are planned to demonstrate this principle. Stay tuned and make yours, a better karate.

Kata is in your face

How does your kata start? If you answered turn left and face your attacker, you win the booby prize. The lesson is close quarters, self-defense. Most kata start with your eyes closed, legs are straight, heels touching, hands held low and in front of you. In other words, you start from a position of vulnerability. As you open your eyes, it's like the curtains rising to a scene of your own mugging. Your assailant is in your face, maybe applying a front choke. What do you do?

In many kata, the first move is to drop your center of gravity and perform a juji uke. Juji uke (cross block), in this scenario, looks like you are crossing your wrists about face height (hands formed as fists) and bringing your arms down slowly to the sides. If instead of "blocking" you are grasping one or two digits of your attacker's hands placed around your neck, you can make use of the advantage of leverage, peel the attackers hands away and release the choke. Move your hands smartly, and you disable the attacker's hands. This is juji uke as small joint manipulation.

The rest of many kata offer similar scenarios united by a concept of close proximity. I don't for a minute believe any (okay, maybe some) of the bunkai offered by gurus that involve intercepting/catching a strike from the middle or long distance and then applying joint manipulations or throws. It's too hard. Complex motor skills against an ambush attack? Please. Test this out. Have a partner attack you with a barrage of strikes. More than likely, you'll flinch, cover-up, then clinch. The bunkai lessons can be applied once the grabbing starts. If there's no grabbing, run away while you have the chance.

Food for thought. Zenkutsu dachi gedan barai is a lousy block, which is how I learned it many years ago. In the "kata is in your face" paradigm, gedan barai is a great cross grab, wrist release technique: with your free arm smash down on your attacker's offending arm while simultaneously twisting and withdrawing your entrapped wrist (hikite). Of course, gedan barai might be used to block. . . knees for example. Is instruction required for something so instinctual? No. In the case of the wrist release application, the lowering of the center of gravity (zenkutsu dachi), the forearm smash (gedan barai), and the withdrawal of the entrapped wrist (hikite) combine yielding elegant bunkai.